Law and Media Round Up – 11 March 2019

On 9 March 2019 the House of Lords Communications Committee published its report “Regulating in a Digital World” concluding that the digital world needs a different approach to regulation.

The Committee considered a very wide range of evidence from companies, NGOs and indviduals. We had a summary of this by Oscar Davies: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

The report proposes a set of 10 principles that shape and frame all regulation of the internet, and a new Digital Authority to oversee this regulation in place of the “clearly failing” system of self-regulation.

Countdown presenter Rachel Riley has threatened libel proceedings against a Labour party official, Laura Murray, over a tweet which suggested that Ms Riley had said Jeremy Corbyn deserved to be violently attacked because he is a Nazi/

Hold the Front page has a law column about the approach of the defamation courts to meaning issues entitled “But what does it mean?”

On 1 March 2019 there was an assessment of damages in the case of Grayling v North before Richard Spearman QC. Damages of £20,000 were awarded. We had a post about the case.

The judgment in the case of Various Claimants v MGN, heard 13 February 2019 by McCombe, Ryder and Floyd LJJ was handed down on 7 March 2019 ([2019] EWCA Civ 350). The appeal was dismissed. Note that the judgment in another Mirror Hacking Litigation case, Winstone v MGN Ltd [2019] EWHC 265 (Ch) is now available on Bailii.

On 7 and 8 March 2019 Warby J heard the first two days of data protection trial in the case of Rudd v Bridle. The case is part heard.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Sports journalist Josh Massoud has taken legal action against more than half a dozen media outlets over the coverage of his departure from the Seven Network

Canada

In the case of Bondfield Construction v The Globe and Mail Inc 2015 ONCA 160 the Ontario Court of Appeal has held that a defamation claim is not barred by “Anti-SLAPP” laws. There are reports in The Globe and Mail and in City News.

In the case of Lascaris v. B’nai Brith Canada, 2019 ONCA 163 the same court held that a libel action over a tweet accusing the plaintiff of supporting terrorists should not be dismissed under the Anti-SLAPP law. There was a news report about the case in the Standard-Freeholder.

It is reported that musician and producer Owen Pallett has settled a defamation lawsuit against a woman who accused him of sexual assault,

The Denis O’Brien defamation case has resulted in renewed claims for the reform of defamation legislation. We had a post about this. On Saturday the Irish Times has added its voice to the campaign. The same newspaper reports that the Press Ombudsman has warned that high defamation payouts threaten the future of newspapers.

A & L Goodbody have a post about the reduction of damages by the Court of Appeal in the Kinsella v Kenmare Resources case.

The Journal.ie reports that a Dublin security officer, who turned out his pockets and had his carry-on luggage searched by police on a plane following “an alleged theft” at Dublin airport, has lost his €75,000 claim for defamation.

Malta

The Independent reports that the Court of Appeal has overturned a judgment which ordered journalist Caroline Muscat to pay €10,000 in libel damages to Equality Minister Helena Dalli’s husband Patrick Dalli. There was a post about this decision in The Shift.

United States

The Cyberlaw Clinic reports that it has filed an amicus curiae brief (.pdf) in the United States Supreme Court in Oracle v. Google, No. 18-956, on behalf of a group of intellectual property law scholars. The brief supported Google’s petition for certiorari, asking the Supreme Court to review decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

The Washington State Senate has passed a broad package of data privacy protections, including rules that would give consumers the right to delete data about them held by private companies.

Zimbabwe

It is reported that gold miners Shephard Nyazvigo and Phillip Makanya have lost a court case in which they were demanding $100 000 compensation from former First Lady Grace Mugabe, claiming she allegedly labelled them thieves, who wanted to wrest a citrus plantation from her.